According to the Associated Press, the Red Sox may be willing to bend their policy of not negotiating with players during the season, for ace hurler Prince Pedro Martinez. Is anyone suprised?

“We have a policy of trying to avoid negotiations during the season,” Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said Wednesday, “but if you’re talking about our exceptional players, they call for exceptional treatment.”

DOG PILE ON THE RABBIT

Apparently Mo Vaughn skipped the Mets Caravan two days ago because he wanted to avoid questions about his weight. But the hefty slugger did have lunch with Fred Wilpon at Gallagher’s Steak House yesterday and briefly spoke with the press. He joined his teammates (new and old) in jumping all over the Mets’ former skipper, Bobby Valentine.

Mo Vaughn targeted the former manager yesterday, suggesting that Valentine may have been responsible for several offseason reports that the Mets were considering voiding Vaughn’s contract if the burly slugger didn’t lose significant weight before the 2003 season.

“That never happened. Everybody knows you can’t void a contract, anyway,” Vaughn said at Gallagher’s Steak House in midtown. “To be honest with you, I think that was Bobby Valentine with all that.”

Team owner Fred Wilpon was the one who told Vaughn to lose weight during the Mets’ postseason meetings, and team executives closely monitored Vaughn’s training program over the winter, visiting him at his Columbus, Ohio, home on multiple occasions. But Vaughn was adamant that his contract wasn’t a topic of conversation at any time.

Vaughn didn’t want to pin all the blame on Valentine for last year’s last-place finish, but he did say that there were concerns in the Mets clubhouse about Valentine’s dealing with the media – and how much he told them about the inner workings of the team.

“We were miffed all season about how certain things got out,” Vaughn said. “Where did those things come from? … Process of elimination is what I’m going through.”

Seems like killing Bobby V is even easier than abusing Vaughn for his girth these days. Fortunately, Bobby V won’t remain silent forever. He’ll wait for just the right moment, and pow: the beat writers will be in 7th heaven.